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Two movie love stories enter the cinematic arena – but will zom com Warm Bodies or rom com I Give It A Year win this week’s Film Face Off?

Plot

Based on the best-selling ‘young adult fiction’ novel (yup, it’s another one of those, folks) by Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies is a zombie comedy with a difference as Nicholas Hoult – who spends his days shuffling through an airport lounge with legions of the undead, the apparent victim of some kind of apocalypse – when he meets and falls for Julie (Teresa Palmer) who is still very much alive.

Their ensuing romance sets off a chain of events which might just see him regain his human status – but matters are complicated by the presence of her survivalist, zombie-killing dad (John Malkovich), as well as a group of far more anti-social skeletal zombies – known as ‘bonies’ – who have their appetites set on anything with a pulse.

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I Give It A Year, meanwhile, treads a far more conventional path – that of the glossy British romantic comedy, although the fact this one comes to us from Dan Mazer – who worked on the likes of Borat and The Ali G Show – means that this one has a bit more edge to it than your average saccharine Britcom.

Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne take centre stage as newlyweds Josh and Nat, with the film following them through their first year of marriage as they slowly come round to the fact that perhaps their match is not one made in heaven. The presence of Josh’s ex (Anna Faris) and Nat’s handsome new co-worker (Simon Baker), only serve to complicate matters – while Minnie Driver’s turn as a well-meaning friend and Olivia Colman as a mad marriage counsellor don’t help matters either.

Winner: I Give It A Year may be cute but we’ve seen this kind of thing countless times before. We haven’t, however, seen many films like Warm Bodies before, so that takes round one.

What We Say

Warm Bodies: ‘The concept of a zombie reboot of Romeo And Juliet may get Shakespeare a-spinning in his grave but it’s an unexpectedly sweet delight. Much of the script is hilarious – particularly R’s inner monologue: “Don’t be creepy, don’t be creepy,” he tells himself as he lurches up to Julie with her ex-boyfriend’s half-eaten brains still dribbling down his chin’ (Larushka Ivan-Zadeh)

I Give It A Year: ‘Highlights are Olivia Colman as a marriage counsellor and a wheeze involving a released dove and ceiling fan, while Soho has never looked so lovely. But there still isn’t a character here who resembles a real person you might care about.’ (Angie Errigo)

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Winner: An easy victory for Warm Bodies, which trounces I Give It A Year in the review stakes and takes round two.

What They Say (via Twitter)

‘Warm Bodies much better than I expected. Plus lead was the kid in ‘About A Boy&lead girl was a happier,blonde Kristen Stewart.Cute!’ @benjie_006

‘Warm Bodies was amaze! Proper want to see it again.’ @xxLinziWrightxx

‘I really enjoyed ‘I give it a year’ but it was one of those Romcoms where all the best punchlines were shown in the trailer 7/10′ @brtoon

‘I Give It A Year’ is a fine example of a rom-com. Give it a twirl.’ ‏@LarrysRoadMovie

Winner: Both appear to be equally popular with the punters, so we’ll call this one a draw, shall we?

Overall winner: If you’re looking for a night at the flicks to spice up Valentine’s Day it would appear that zombie comedy is the one to shuffle off and watch, as Warm Bodies wins this week’s Film Face Off by 2-1.